Solon urges lockdown extension

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WITH the increasing number of persons who testing positive for coronavirus disease or COVID-19, the enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) should be extended by another 30 days.

This is the suggestion of Caloocan City Rep. Edgar Erice citing reports from the Department of Health (DOH) that the number of COVID-19 cases breached the 2,000 mark with 88 deaths since lockdown was enforced.

Three weeks ago, President Rodrigo Duterte declared the entire Luzon under ECQ which compelled people to stay at home for 30 days.

A technical working group under the Inter-Agency Task Force on Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF) was created to study whether or not the ECQ will be extended.

For Erice, there is a need to extend for another 30 days the ECQ to further prevent the spread of the dreaded virus, which originated from Wuhan, China.

“Science, the experience of other countries and common sense would dictate that the Philippine government should extend the enhanced community quarantine for another 30 days as we continue to grapple with hard facts on the real statistics of COVID-19 spread in our communities,” Erice said in a statement.

“I have been to more than a hundred villages in my city the past two weeks and I am afraid that if COVID-19 reaches these areas all hell will break loose,” the lawmaker added.

Erice suggested that the implementation of regulated movements and essential services should be continued.

“These are the least we can do to protect our citizenry as we are at war against a very invisible, powerful enemy,” Erice added.